How trading stocks online works

How to become a successful shareholder in trading stocks online? Read the article to find out.

From the times when the most powerful New York Stock Exchange started the world-wide empire of trading, investors are allured by the tempting pictures of success. Hollywood promotes the image of a self-starter who makes the way from a paper boy to a billionaire showered with luxury.

In the middle of the 20th century the media was picturing investors, traders and brokers as an uptight class of privileged men that were holding some kind of secret knowledge that led them directly to the world of wealth, leadership and influence.

Imagine how times have changed. Nowadays the market is much more open-minded in terms of gender, geography and social ground. You don’t have to graduate from respected financial universities, put yourself in a stressful environment or spend all your time studying trading patterns. The portrait of a trader today is diverse. You can be a student or a mother of three, retired teacher or respected woman-boss at the peak of her career. Your trading adventure can start on a beach with a laptop or in your tiny rented room. The essential is an online connection and a strong desire to succeed.

Online trading has opened all the doors, the know-how behind which turned out to be not so sacred. If you are no dreamer but a self-motivated person of action ready to take responsibility for risks and failure, work hard and learn from the experience of the best experts, trading stocks can be a rewarding source of income.

Prejudice Against Trading Stocks Online

People with no special education that have substantial gaps in their financial literacy tend to have a lot of superstitions about online trading. Such irrational fear is cultivated by comments in social networks and blogs as well as mysterious legends about distant relatives who lost their fortune buying stocks.

Here is a list of the most common misbeliefs:

It is a Lottery

Due to high market volatility, it is always difficult to make predictions with the 100% guarantee. However, it is silly to consider online trading a lottery or a casino of a kind. Once you a have a sufficient theoretical base that helps you to weigh the risks and analyze price patterns, the possibility of gaining profit is quite high.

Besides, we advise you to always balance the risks. Do not invest all your money in trading stocks only. Buy international currencies and stock market indices.

Invest in stocks in the long-run. Do not expect to get sufficient profit sooner than 5-10 years. During this period a lot of events can strike the world, but most likely stocks will balance even after surviving a crisis.

When you trade it is your responsibility how you use financial tools to predict risks. It is not pure luck, thus cannot be called the lottery.

It is Difficult

It is more complicated than opening a bank account but easier than you expect it to be. If you are afraid of investing big money start with a small amount. It will help you become more confident with interface, terminology, and analytics. If you spend at least 10 minutes a day on learning how to trade online, in two months you will go real without fear.

Another thing you can do is to look through portfolios of other investors and copy their behavior.

Knowledge is your armor. The more you study the less difficult the process seems.

It is Expensive

You will never make a fortune investing $1 – it’s fact. But it doesn’t mean that you need $10,000 to start as a shareholder. Trading stocks online with FBS is possible with any amount but it is wise to begin with at least $10 to try how it all works. Besides, we offer the 1:10 leverage that helps to compensate for money limitations.

For a more serious business in the long-term perspective financial analytics advise starting with $500 to gather a sufficient and diverse portfolio.

Why Choose US Stock Market

It’s common knowledge that the US economy is the most stable in the world. Thus, investing in the companies traded on the US stock market is reliable. To be selected for trading and be present at such stock exchanges as NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX companies have to go through a series of strict checkups. It gives you confidence that all the financial reports and documents are legal.

Moreover, the list of options is diverse. You can either trust your money to the brands that dominate the market (Apple or Amazon) or start with smaller ones that will become more valuable over time. By the way, the latter strategy was first introduced by Warren Buffet and made him one of the richest and most influential investors in the world.

As an owner of US stocks, you usually get dividends – a payment made by a corporation to its shareholders. So, you can simply invest and wait for a cash out without trading.

The average return on investment for the US stock market has been around 10% since 1965. So, if you still decide to trade, the risks are relatively low. High liquidity of the shares gives you the freedom of the buy-sell decisions. You can always be sure that there is a customer or a seller for your stock.

How do I Start

Follow the steps to start trading stocks online:

1. Open a brokerage account.

FBS has just introduced stocks to its trading instruments. So, you can join the race to the stable financial future together with us.

2. Select your stocks

Once you open FBS stock list and see the abundant catalog of nearly 100 publicly traded companies you can become easily confused and end up demotivated when obtaining information on the brands.

Remain calm and use a service that will improve your art of stock-picking. Such places are designed to help investors choose the best stocks for their portfolio.

The most popular are Zacks Stock Screener and Google Finance Stock Screener. If you are not sure that you want single stocks, try ETF – it is a way to sit on fences. When you buy its assets you simultaneously invest in several biggest US companies that cover 85% of the US stock exchange market.

Once you are experienced enough, devote your time to self-education. Study stock-picking strategies, read financial blogs and listen carefully to hints from market influencers. Once you choose a strategy for selecting stocks, learn its ins and outs, follow it precisely, you will be on the path to success.

3. Staff your portfolio

It is always better to start really small. Buy a single stock to get the general idea of how to manage it. Over time you can add extra brands. Do not forget to diversify the spheres in which you invest and evaluate companies’ potential for the future.

4. Do not give in to negative emotions

Even if things go in the opposite direction from your expectations, remember that owning stocks is your long-term perspective. Concentrate only on the issues that you can control.